5 Year Olds, Kinetic Sand, and Civil Engineering: A STEM Activity Recap
I got invited to run a STEM activity for a class of 5 year olds, teaching the basics of civil engineering through hands-on play.
We talked about alignments, profiles, and road sections, then built it out with kinetic sand and modeled it in AutoCAD to show how the same ideas turn into real design work.
Spoiler: 5 year olds have zero chill, but they got it.
The road pieces are just foam sheets cut to shape. You could easily swap in fabric, Legos, or whatever you’ve got on hand to try this with your own kids.
Full group of 5 year olds is a challenge (in the best way). This one would probably work even better in small groups, or with older kids, middle schoolers especially.
Come along for the STEM event, the sand build, and a peek at how it’s actually designed in the software engineers use every day.
Big thanks to Kiddie Academy of Tigard for having me!
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